ALL-AREA: OJR's Sullivan tops in girls track & field

BUCKTOWN — The family move from Massachusetts to this area came as a shock to Holly Sullivan.

She wasn’t too thrilled when her parents decided to pull up roots in Georgetown, Mass., just over two years ago.

She had just started high school and made new friends. But her father wanted to relocate his company headquarters.

So off they went. “It was tough moving after freshman year,” Sullivan said. “It was great up there in Massachusetts. I was on a great team and we were really close. It was hard to leave.”

But it all seems to have turned out for the best for the Owen J. Roberts track and field standout.

“I really settled in here and I like it, like my team,” she said. “I also know it was really good for me coming here because competition here is a lot better.”

And Sullivan quickly blossomed into one of the top track and field athletes in the Pioneer Athletic Conference.

Only two years later, the junior moved to the top of the heap, putting together the best all-around track and field performances of the Pioneer Athletic Conference season.

Sullivan was three-event winner at the PAC-10 Championships, capturing the gold medal in the 400 meters with a meet record 56.07. She won another gold in the 800 with a 2:19.32. Sullivan capped it off with a third gold medal as she won the long jump for the second straight year with a 17-10.

She added silver in the triple jump with a 37-10 for good measure.

Sullivan went on to capture the District 1-AAA gold in the long jump with an 18-1 1/4, the district silver in the 800 with a 2:12.04, then medaled at the PIAA Championships in the long jump, placing fifth with an 18-4. She also advanced to finals in the 800 at states, placing 11th (2:21.32).

Along the way she has set school records in the 200, 400 and 800 meters, the long jump, triple jump, and as a member of the 4x200 and 4x800 relay teams.

As if that wasn’t enough, Sullivan is the 2013 Mercury All-Area Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

“It was a good season,” she said. “I improved on a lot of things I wanted to improve on, especially in the long jump and my 400 time. That was my first district championship in the long jump. It was really cool. In the 400 I got to run at an open meet after the high school season and ended up running a 55, which was a new PR for me. And I feel I really improved in the 800 from last year, going to districts and having a good race there, where last year it didn’t quite go as I wanted it to.

“And I think I grew a lot, especially in the mental part of running the 800, which is almost as hard as the physical part sometimes.”

That 800, a difficult distance even for seasoned mid-distance veterans, is a newer one for Sullivan.

“It definitely takes getting used to it,” she said. “I’ve always run the 400 and I’m used to it. The 800 is more technical. A lot more strategy goes into it — when you want to push and when you want to make that last kick. It’s something I really have to get used to, figure out how I need to run it.”

She is already a standout in the long jump and 400, along with a number of other events. So why even add the 800?

“Just another event to try and it’s fun,” she said. “I think the coaches saw that I could be really good in it, so I wanted to see what I could do. It’s something that I have a lot of room to grow in. While I have been working on the long jump and 400 for a while, and want to keep improving in those, I have a lot more I can improve in the 800. I like the challenge.”

For this year, winning the gold in the long jump at districts was the season highlight for Sullivan.

“I knew that if I really brought out my best, it was something we could do,” she said. “And it’s great to have done it at such a big meet. I knew going into it I had the top seed, but you can never rely on that with jumping because you can be all over the place sometimes. Personally, I don’t like to pay much attention to the seeds, because it’s hard when you are the top seed because everyone tells you that you are and I know as well as anybody that some days are good and sometimes you just have a bad day for no reason. But I also knew that if I put down what I knew I could, I would win. And it felt good to finally do that.”

A week later at states, where she placed fifth in the long jump, she wasn’t too happy with that.

“I feel I could have done better at states,” she said. “It was my first time being there since the year before I didn’t get to go, being injured after districts (stress fracture). It’s a high-pressure meet and I feel I could have dealt with that a little better. I still jumped well.

“The 800 was just unfortunate in the finals. I had a rough start off the line, caught an elbow that knocked my wind out a little, and I never quite got my breath back from that. I think going into next year, I’ll definitely know better how to deal with that pressure.”

It does bother her when she doesn’t live up to her owns expectations.

“It’s definitely upsetting,” she said. “Again, you also know that everyone has good and bad days. There were a lot of other runners there that, just for some reason, it didn’t go well for them. It was bad weather, a windy day. But in the end, you feel there is no real excuse for it. You just have to pick yourself up, leave it behind you.”

And look at all the positives instead. There certainly were plenty of those for Sullivan this year. A lot of credit has to go to the Wildcats coaches, who were “extremely helpful,” she pointed out.

“Since I run and jump, I rotate between the coaches,” she said. “And since I run the 800, which is between sprinting and distance, I have to work with both the sprint and the distance coach. Jumping, of course, is all coach Wentzel (OJR head coach Eric Wentzel). He had me do a lot of more exercises this year that really helped me get better. But they all really helped me, both mentally and physically, to get ready.”

Wentzel knew from the start of the season, barring any injuries, Sullivan would have a great year.

“Holly did not surprise me at all at how well she did,” Wentzel said. “I knew that if she stayed healthy the sky was the limit. She had a great year and should be very proud of what she accomplished.

“In the fall she really focused on getting stronger so she could stay healthy. And she did that on her own. She is so personally driven and that is what makes her so good.”

Sullivan’s family track history probably figures in, too. Her mom, Verne, ran the 400 at her Massachusetts high school, and then at Holy Cross College. Her dad, Lee, also ran the 400. He wasn’t quite as dedicated to it as her mom, according to Sullivan, but he ran it.

“I took up track and middle school,” she said. “Going into sixth grade I joined the middle school team at my old school. Both my parents ran, my mom especially. She ran the 400, so that’s why I first picked up the 400. The long jump was just something I wanted to try because they encouraged everyone to pick a running event and a field event.”

It didn’t take her long to realize the jump might be her best event yet. And her favorite one now.

“As much as I like that I do well in it, it’s just something I enjoy,” she said. “Of course, I enjoy running the 400 and 800, but you have that kind of love/hate thing with it because it’s painful and it’s tough. But once you finish it and you see how you did, see all you hard work and training paid off, it feels good. And I like trying to beat my times.”

Her coach says Sullivan is equally good in the long jump, 400 and 800.

“I have no idea what her best event is,” Wentzel said. “That is my biggest dilemma with her when it comes to districts and states. I have no idea which events to put her in because she is so talented in so many areas.”

Sullivan also played soccer all through middle school, her freshman year at Georgetown High School and her sophomore year at OJR. But she gave it up after that.

“I realized that soccer, as fun as it was for me, wasn’t something that I was going to pursue past high school,” she said. “So I felt I should give that up to make sure I did my best in track and to really start dedicating all my time to that.”

And with that she cranked up her weightlifting last fall.

“That helped a lot,” she said. “I built a lot of strength. I’m a slender person and didn’t really have as much muscle the year before and it helped that I got some of that strength up.

“The toughest part about this year was how long our season is,” she said. “And that kind of waiting period at the beginning the season because you have to be careful to peak at the right times. It was hard in the beginning because I felt I wanted to do more and my coaches kept reminding me — it doesn’t do any good if you peak at the beginning of the season. They really did a good job helping me out with that so that once I got to districts and states, I was at my top. And it showed in the long jump.”

So as it turned out, moving here from Massachusetts worked out for the best in so many ways for Sullivan.

“The training period down here is a lot longer,” she said. “Up in Massachusetts there would still be snow on the track by the time spring season started. So there is a lot more time to train. Our workouts here have been a lot harder, and in a good way, It’s a great league, a great district and state.”

And the best part is Sullivan has another high school year left.

“That was definitely comforting to know when states didn’t quite turn out how I hoped it would, when I didn’t do what I feel I can do,” she said. “I’m already thinking about next year and what I can make better. I’m already getting ready to get back to the gym, start lifting and building more strength for next year.”

Because she wants to close out her high school career with a superb final season. Her OJR coach, for one, has no doubts she will.

“Holly is going to be even better next season,” Wentzel said. “She is never satisfied with what she did in past seasons, is always striving to get better. She is one of the most competitive athletes I have coached in the last 10 years in any sport.

“She is an unbelievable talent on the track but she is even a better kid. She does everything that we ask of her and always puts the team first. I am very blessed to have been her coach for the last two seasons and I look forward to one more with her and the rest of the talented girls we have on the team.”